Police help Apple search for lost iPhone 5 prototype

SFPD officers accompanied 2 Apple employees in the search of man's home for missing device

By PoliceOne Staff

SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco Police Department is assisting Apple in locating a 'lost' iPhone prototype, a department spokesperson confirmed.

In a virtually identical repeat of an incident that occurred around the release of a previous iPhone version, an Apple employee reportedly lost the phone - due to be released in October - in a San Francisco bar sometime in July. Recently, the device was tracked via GPS to the home of a 22-year-old San Francisco man.

SFPD officers accompanied two Apple employees to the man's home, where they conducted a search but did not find the device.

The full statement by SFPD spokesperson Troy Dangerfield to SF Weekly reads:

After speaking with Apple representatives, we were given information which helped us determine what occurred. It was discovered that Apple employees called Mission Police station directly, wanting assistance in tracking down a lost item. Apple had tracked the lost item to a house located in the 500 block of Anderson Street. Because the address was in the Ingleside Police district Apple employees were referred to Officers in the Ingleside district. Four SFPD Officers accompanied Apple employees to the Anderson street home. The two Apple employees met with the resident and then went into the house to look for the lost item. The Apple employees did not find the lost item and left the house.

The Apple employees did not want to make an official report of the lost item.

Last year, an Apple software engineer lost a prototype of the iPhone 4 in a Sunnyvale, Calif. bar. It was found and then sold to tech blog Gizmodo for $5,000, which published photos and details regarding the phone. Just this week, prosecutors announced they will not pursue criminal charges against Gizmodo, though charges are still pending for the men who found and brokered the sale of the device.